Losing Money to Be a Tycoon c1-883

by Inebriation-seeking Blue Shirt, 青衫取醉

  Even a lover of games would feel more or less tired and annoyed after playing for a whole day.

  Cui Geng started to feel a little dizzy. He started flipping through his cell phone.

  He read reviews of his book habitually.

  “No updates today?”

  “Axed?”

  “Sigh, the no-show king has been captured for lecture today. What a terrible day.”

  The chapters of the other authors had yet to be updated as well since it was not yet six in the evening

  They would usually be flooded and updated in batches after six. They were minimally seven to eight thousand words. Those with more might have 10,000 words.

  Compared to himself who failed to write a single word.

  “Sigh, you can’t blame me for that. I’ve been delayed because Boss Pei arranged for me to study the Tengda spirit.”

  Cui Geng threw the blame to Boss Pei with a peace of mind.

  Cui Geng would have been quite happy if he had known from the beginning that he would be playing games for a full day in the games room.

  However, he came with the mentality of ‘participating in the Tengda spirit training! but instead played games for the whole day. The strangeness of his situation greatly weakened Cui Geng’s enjoyment of the games.

  “Wait, could this training not start if I don’t ask for it? Don’t drag it to tomorrow!”

  Cui Geng was suddenly shocked when he thought of it. He felt there was a very serious problem at hand.

  Of course, he had no problem with playing games in the games room for an entire day, but he did not feel good at all when it was a ‘schedule completely arranged by others’.

  Cui Geng stood up as he thought of this and decided to ask Wu Bin to see if there was anything up his sleeve. He had to know if he was to play or undergo training. Hanging like this felt very unreal.

  Cui Geng left the game room and glanced at the workstation by the side subconsciously.

  He was surprised to find some were laying the ergonomic chair flat and slept on it; some were watching dramas while eating potato chips. However, others were typing very quickly on the keyboards.

  This floor was basically occupied by the administrative, human resource, and finance departments. The gaming department was upstairs on the 17th floor.

  The HR department had become less busy since the Tengda recruitment drive. Those who had nothing to do would obviously slack off.

  This scene was a little astonishing in Cui Geng’s eyes. He originally thought that they would be gritting their noses to their works here.

  Cui Geng found Wu Bin. He struggled for a bit, not knowing how to broach the topic.

  However, Wu Bin seemed to be prepared for this. He stood up directly. “Come, let’s talk in the guest room.”

  They entered the guest room and sat down.

  Wu Bin poured some tea elegantly. Boss Pei had told him that he should give Cui Geng some hints if Cui Geng did not understand.

  Therefore, Wu Bin was prepared and knew that it was time to give the hints.

  “Fire your questions away.” Wu Bin smiled.

  Cui Geng hesitated for a moment before asking. “I want to know when the Tengda spirit training will commence. It won’t be dragged to tomorrow, would it?”.

  Wu Bin’s smile became even wider. “Tengda spirit training? It has already begun.

  “From the time you arrived in the morning until now, all of which were part of the process of Tengda spirit training.” Wu Bin added upon seeing Cui Geng’s dumbfounded face.

  “As to what Tengda spirit is…”

  “Boss Pei said that he believes you will reach an answer yourself.”

  Cui Geng was even more confused now.

  The training had started? Didn’t I just idle the day away playing games? Cui Geng scratched his head and asked. “Is every Tengda spirit training the same process? Play games in the game room for an entire day?”

  Wu Bin looked thoughtful before he replied, “The process is all the same. They were all brought to the company, but they might not necessarily go to the game room to play the entire day. In fact, you don’t need to play games. You can go wherever you want. No one is restricting your freedom.”

  Cui Geng, “Huh?”

  I could go anywhere I wanted? Why did I stay in the games room for an entire day then?

  However, he immediately remembered that Wu Bin did not say he could not leave when they entered the games room. “That means that this so-called training is a free ticket to moving around Tengda? It is to show the Tengda spirit indirectly?” Cui Geng was confused. “But I don’t feel like I felt anything remotely similar to the Tengda spirit…”

  Wu Bin knew it was time to give Cui Geng ‘some hints’ as tasked by Boss Pei.

  “What did you see in the office?” Wu Bin asked.

  Cui Geng recalled what he saw and was embarrassed to speak.

  Wu Bin smiled. “Speak, no matter.”

  Cui Geng hesitated. “I saw some people working hard, some were sleeping, some were watching drama… some reading books…”

  Wu Bin nodded. “What do you think represents the Tengda spirit then?”

  Cui Geng thought for a while before saying with great uncertainty. “Uh… the company doesn’t care what the employees do during working hours. They can play and laze around at will? Boss Pei encourages everyone to be lazy?”

  “…” Wu Bin was momentarily speechless. He then asked, “Think about it; is this an inference a normal person will make?”

  Cui Geng “…no.”

  He reacted subconsciously but immediately felt it was outrageous when asked by Wu Bin.

  Wu Bin then explained his take on the Tengda spirit.

  “The people you saw resting and watching drama had either completed their work or they needed to adjust their status to achieve higher work efficiency.”

  “Their rest and entertainment were not only for rest and entertainment but to better complete their work.”

  “The Tengda spirit, if summed up into one point, is… how to make better use of entertainment and rest as a means to obtain higher efficiency and long-term output. “Tengda spirit encourages rest and entertainment but not aimless entertainment and rest. That would only destroy people. “Using rest and entertainment to ensure physical and mental health to better realize your own value. That is what the Tengda spirit really advocates.” Cui Geng fell into deep thought after listening to Wu Bin’s words.

  So Boss Pei’s actions had such meaning? Boss Pei did something very simple today. That was to throw him into the game room to relax.

  However, Cui Geng was experiencing an indescribable sense of emptiness in his heart right now.

  Why was that so?

  Was it only because he was playing while the other authors were writing? That played a part, but it was not all of it.

  Wu Bin’s words made Cui Geng suddenly realize a problem. His entertainment and rest had no purpose!

  That was why he felt empty often.

  Take an hour of afternoon nap for instance. Some take naps out of procrastination and to avoid work. However, they still had to finish their tasks when they woke up. He might think that his job might have been half done if he did not take the one-hour nap.

  He would feel empty at this time and felt that his time was wasted.

  However, some people took naps in order to maintain a better mental state and finish the afternoon’s work in a better mental state. They would immediately devote themselves to work when they wake up.

  This time, the nap was filled with meaning which was why he would not feel empty.

  Entertainment held the same reasoning. Rest and entertainment were essential parts of life. However, they could not become everything

  A person’s ultimate value was still what he produced.

  It was a very simple truth, but Cui Geng found that he had never seen it before.

  He had a worry-free life because of the windfall from the resettlement projects. He was
unable to concentrate on his creation, but playing games every day did not bring him happiness… only endless emptiness.

  He had never understood where his emptiness came from.

  Today, Boss Pei threw him into the entertainment room for a day of games and then got Wu Bin to nudge him a little. He immediately understood.

  Cui Geng’s brows relaxed as he said his own understanding. “So, the Tengda spirit should be…”

  “Encouraging rest and entertainment. However, rest and entertainment were meant to adjust one’s own state to better realize one’s value.”

  Wu Bin was noncommittal. “What else?” Cui Geng frowned as he continued thinking. “If I were to place the Tengda spirit on myself…

  “The reason why I became the person in class with the slowest releases was because I do not possess such a spirit.

  “My rest and entertainment were just because I was lazy and resisting work. My time was wasted. In fact, if I can combine rest, entertainment, and work; I can fully guarantee my rest and entertainment time while increasing my output at the same time…

  “I’d exploded too much recently and did not construct the plots and content well. That was also the result of me opposing work. I need to adjust my mentality urgently…

  “In any case…

  “I don’t have to resist or reject rest and entertainment. Neither should I feel guilty about it. I should use them to maintain a better working condition.

  “At the same time, there is no need to worry too much about the word count. The more important factor was the quality of the output…

  “Am I right?”

  Cui Geng looked at Wu Bin.

  Wu Bin smiled. “Everyone has a different understanding of the Tengda spirit. I cannot judge your understanding. It is right if you think it’s right.”

  Chapter 399 - Teachable!

  Cui Geng kept silent, not saying anything. A moment later, he sorrowfully said, “Tengda is really a special company. “Other companies cannot wait to hang their mottos up on the walls and in the employee’s handbooks. Some would even make their employees memorize them.

  “Yet, Tengda’s hiding their spirit and allowing employees to come to understand it on their own. It’s almost like the company is waiting for its employees to become ‘enlightened’…

  “All of a sudden, I’m deeply interested in the company. Can you briefly explain how things work here to me?”

  Pei Qian did not return to Tengda in the afternoon. Instead, he went to Dream Realization Ventures to listen to He Desheng’s report about ‘Top Student, Come Quick’. Advertising for ‘Top Student, Come Quick’ had been running for a few days. What’s more, they were looking quite persuasive. During the few days that Pei Qian had been studying, he had seen many posters for ‘Top Student, Come Quick’. He had also seen many students distributing flyers for it. Some of his classmates had also been discussing it.

  Although he was not sure about the actual figures, his first impression was that the event was quite popular.

  Thus, after weighing the pros and cons, Pei Qian finally decided to make a trip down to check on ‘Top Student, Come Quick’s actual situation.

  He Desheng began to explain the project’s situation to Pei Qian. Although he sounded extremely passionate, Pei Qian could tell that he was not that confident inside.

  “Boss Pei, at the moment, we’re already running advertisements for the project. Of course, we’re still focusing on Jingzhou for now…”

  The initial advertising strategy for Top Student, Come Quick’ was relatively simple and explosive.

  Over the past two days, ‘Top Student, Come Quick’s posters had already gone up on several public transport stations in Jingzhou City. A group of people had also been distributing flyers near universities and high school campuses at noon and in the evening.

  They had also bought a limited number of advertisement slots from TV stations in Jingzhou City. Of course, those were the less desirable slots.

  On top of that, they had signed agreements with a couple of elite students from Handong University and other universities, inviting them to act as the first batch of ‘contracted top students’ for the application.

  He Desheng would pay them, and they would guarantee that they would finish a set quantity of work and work for a set amount of time. Moreover, the company would look out closely for any signs of trickery. There would also be some spare funds, which would be used to subsidize users’ fees while the application was in the initial stages. In other words-as most put it, the company would be ‘burning the money’.

  The money would be spent very quickly!

  However, they would not really be making ducks and drakes of the money. Instead, they expect the money to bear fruit and turn people into loyal users. Still, He Desheng felt embarrassed to tell Boss Pei the actual figure because he found it embarrassing.

  At the moment, they were only running tests in Jingzhou. They had not released the application to the rest of the country. How many active users could they expect?

  Their sales figures were pathetic as well. They were now burning money, and they would probably continue to do so in the near future. In fact, He Desheng expected them to only burn more money from now onwards.

  As for feedback… the majority still thought badly of the project. The application only had minimal functions for now.

  All in all, as He Desheng reported the situation to Pei Qian, he only spoke empty words such as ‘it has great potential’ and did not go into much detail.

  This was undoubtedly good news to Pei Qian. No good news was the best news he could ask for.

  If even He Desheng couldn’t find anything to boast about, it meant that the project had really started off as a huge mess…

  Still, Pei Qian had grown much wiser. He would not let his guard down. His own employees loved hiding good news and signs of profit from him. They would all wait until the good news had been confirmed before they reported it to Boss Pei.

  He had to guard himself against such situations.

  Pei Qian looked at He Desheng and said, “It looks good for a start, but I want to ask you something… how do you think the application will breakthrough in the future?”

  After some consideration, He Desheng replied, “Breakthrough… I think it’ll be in its ability to establish social interaction!”

  “Huh?” Pei Qian frowned, immediately becoming cautious.

  However, He Desheng did not seem to realize the change in Boss Pei’s expression. Instead, he continued speaking. “Promoting social interaction would undoubtedly be the way we can expand and strengthen the application as quickly as possible in the future!

  “Our application only has average figures for now, and high school students and parents think that it’s mediocre. However, it’s a hit among university students!

  “Flunkies and top students alike very seriously fill in their details and upload photographs onto the application. Moreover, the probability of them meeting someone of the opposite sex is higher than that of meeting someone of the same sex.

  “That means that our application offers an opportunity for social interaction. If we make good use of this…”

  Pei Qian frowned, finding that something was amiss.

  That was a huge hidden danger! Pei Qian had no doubt that many people were deeply interested in ‘study gods’ and ‘study goddesses’. Lonely male and female top students who were passionate about studies would probably also not be able to resist their better-looking schoolmates…

  If he allowed this situation to develop, the application would become a matchmaking one for students, right?!

  At that moment, Pei Qian immediately stopped He Desheng. “You’re right.” He Desheng’s eyes lit up, feeling like he had just been validated by Boss Pei. Pei Qian, “This is indeed a huge danger!”

  He Desheng’s eyes widened as he looked at Pei Qian quizzically.

  Pei Qian could not be bothered about his astonishment as he said, “We cannot allow these evil in
fluences to fester!”

  He Desheng felt slightly lightheaded. “Huh? Why not?”

  Very somberly, Pei Qian answered, “The danger is too huge! In the short term, we can use that as an avenue to gain more popularity.

  “However, in the long-term, that would generate safety hazards in our application. Many users on the application would also have impure motives. That would affect the environment in the entire platform and be the downfall of its reputation! We’ll even lose our core users!

  “Thus, we have to avoid this at all costs.

  “Modify the application at once. The next version should have a few more features, and the design of the personal info page should be edited. Users cannot upload their photographs or display their gender. People cannot write any comments they want about themselves. Instead, they have to choose from the limited options that we will provide.

  “It’ll be like adding labels to their own profile. If we don’t let them write their own comments, they would not be able to hint at their gender and looks.

  “Add a panic alarm button and allow them to display their live locations so that their friends would know where they are at any one time.

  “Put this notice in a noticeable location on the website: everyone must only arrange to meet in the self-study room of schools, a cafe, or other places where there is high traffic.

  “At the same time, intensify our investigation efforts. We have to verify the identities of everyone-flunkies and top students alike. We also have to check if they have criminal records or school disciplinary records. Anyone who seems problematic cannot be allowed to create an account.”

  He Desheng felt slightly dizzy. If people of the opposite gender had begun to develop sparks on the original ‘Top Student, Come Quick’ application, Boss Pei’s string of modifications would not only get rid of those sparks but also get rid of any possibility that new sparks would develop.